Samsung loses its crown as motorola's razr flips the us foldable market
Samsung’s foldable dominance in North America just folded. Fresh Counterpoint data show the Korean giant’s share of regional shipments sliding from 65.6 % in 2024 to 50.9 % last year, while Motorola’s Razr line surged from 30.1 % to 44.1 %—a swing big enough to leave the two vendors separated by only six percentage points.
The rebate blade that cut samsung
Carrier reps in the US have spent 2025 repeating the same script: Razr Ultra, $700 off, free earbuds. Motorola’s retail blitz—financed by Lenovo’s deep pockets—meant end-cap displays at Best Buy, splashy mid-aisle islands at Verizon, and billboards that screamed “half-price foldable” during back-to-school season. Samsung, by contrast, soft-launched the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE at a price that felt neither “Fan” nor “Edition,” then watched inventory pile up while Motorola’s promos rotated every fortnight.
The tactic worked. Counterpoint’s sell-through tracker shows Razr activations overtook Galaxy Z Flip activations in Q3 for the first time since 2020. Samsung still ships more units to distributors, but what sits in channel stock no longer counts as market power.
Apple’s shadow shortens every runway
Industry buyers expect Apple to unveil its first foldable—call it iPhone Fold, iPhone Ultra, whatever—this September. Historical precedent is brutal: when Apple enters a niche, incumbents bleed 10–15 % share within two quarters. Samsung knows this; Motorola knows this. The fight now is over who limps into 2026 with enough brand equity to survive the iOS tsunami.
Google is already collateral damage. Pixel 10 Pro Fold volumes grew 52 % year-over-year, yet absolute share sits at 4.8 %, a rounding error next to the duopoly. Mountain View’s bet on camera AI and stock Android clearly hasn’t moved retail needles; carriers still bury the device in the “other” shelf below Samsung and Motorola.
What samsung must do before holiday season
Three levers remain for Samsung. First, price the Z Flip 8 within $50 of the Razr (2026) launch tag—no half-measures. Second, resurrect the FE line with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon and a $799 MSRP; shoppers forgive plastic backs if the discount is real. Third, seed the rumored Z Fold 8 “Wide” to content creators weeks early; buzz is cheaper than co-op ads.
Fail on those fronts and Samsung risks slipping to third in North America before the first iPhone Fold ships. The company that invented the modern foldable in 2019 now has nine months to prove it can still finish a marathon it started.